Tennis Elbow
What Causes Tennis Elbow?
Repetitive arm movements can cause small muscle tears and a build-up of scar tissue. This scar tissue causes painful friction between the muscles as they move.
Scar tissue is part of the healing process when muscles are damaged through overuse. However, when there is sharp tension, decreased circulation, or other damage, there is a tendency for scar tissue to build up between muscles and create friction.
Activities That Create Or Aggravate Tennis Elbow.
The most common cause of tennis elbow is repetitive grabbing or lifting while bending the wrist backward.
Some examples of this include tennis, carpentry, bricklaying, knitting, playing piano, typing, or lifting objects with your palm facing down. The condition is much more likely to strike your dominant arm.
The pain will typically begin as an intermittent or gradual discomfort during activity and then it progresses so that even simple activities, like holding a coffee cup, can become painful. Pain may in some cases increase when you straighten your arm, grip a doorknob or shake hands. The pain can also vary from mild to severe and commonly radiates into the forearm, sometimes to the wrist.
How Should Tennis Elbow Be Treated?
Without any treatment, "tennis elbow" will often linger - 80% of patients still report pain after one year.
Active Release Techniques is a specialized soft-tissue method that can often get immediate results. An ART-certified provider will find the precise location of the scar tissue and provide care to improve the texture and fluidity of the muscle movement.
Class-4 Laser Therapy is used in severe cases. This helps decrease pain and accelerate healing at the cellular level.
Chiropractic care improves movement and nerve function. This improves coordination and reduces the likelihood of tennis elbow returning.